1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices for collecting material from the ground. More specifically, the invention relates to devices for collecting cotton from the ground.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cotton gins store and transport cotton in "modules," or compressed bundles of cotton. After the cotton is picked, it is compressed into modules and transported to the gin yard, where it awaits processing. Finally, the modules are picked up and taken to the gin. During the process of loading and unloading these modules, some cotton falls to the ground. Collecting the fallen cotton is beneficial because the cotton can still be used. Moreover, this fallen cotton tends to inhibit the growth of sod and grass necessary to maintain a firm surface on which trucks can operate. The present invention efficiently retrieves the fallen cotton in a cost-effective manner such that it is suitable for processing through a gin facility.
Typically, cotton retriever machines are designed to move along the furrows of a cotton field and remove the cotton that lies scattered on the ground after harvesting, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,497,088 issued to Lehman on Feb. 5, 1985, and 3,955,346 issued to Coon on May 11, 1976. These machines typically employ cotton retrieving belts or wheels that roll directly on the ground collecting cotton, with the forward motion of the machine causing the belt or wheel to rotate. The Lehman patent describes a machine that employs a belt that is slotted transversely such that the slots are closed when the belt is straight, and are open when the belt is flexed, as when it passes over a pulley. The transverse slots close and grip the cotton as the belt rolls over the ground, and then the belt lifts the cotton from the ground. The Coon patent, on the other hand, describes a machine that utilizes ground wheels with teeth that impale the cotton as the wheels roll over the surface of cotton furrows. Both types of machines typically use a saw drum to convey the cotton from the wheel or belt through the cotton retriever.
One limitation of machines that employ belts or wheels is that they can pick up only a small amount of cotton per slot or per tooth, thereby eliminating the use of the machine for collection of large quantities of cotton. These machines were designed to collect the scattered pieces of cotton that remain after harvesting, and cannot effectively retrieve the large quantity of cotton in gin yards and other places where modules have been loaded and unloaded.
Consequently, the need exists for a cotton retriever that can efficiently collect the large quantities of cotton left in gin yards. Thus, the present invention provides a device that can effectively collect large amounts of cotton by utilizing a saw drum, or a rotary cylinder having a plurality of saw teeth, to remove the fallen cotton from the ground. The saw drum rotates at a fast rate relative to the retriever's speed over the ground, thereby increasing the cotton retrieval rate. Although the present invention was developed primarily to retrieve cotton from the ground, the invention can be used to remove any material from the ground. For example, the present invention may be used to remove litter from a large area of ground.